Guardian
by bookwormsrule
Summary: L is tasked with the task of solving crimes; to catch criminals after the damaged was done. Watari, in concern for L's well-being, has asked Matt to build a machine. A machine that can detect crimes before they happen. A machine that sees and hears everything. A machine with a mind of its own. (Inspired by Person of Interest)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello everyone. Watching Death Note the other day and this idea popped into my head. The machine was inspired by Person of Interest. Any brand name is owned by their respective owners.

* * *

Harsh white light sliced through the darkened room. Matt sat curled up quickly pressing the buttons on his PSP Go. He frowned as he concentrated on his game. The computer he sat in front of him gave a small bleeping noise. "Matt," an old gravelly voice called.

"Yes," Matt answered eyes glued to his screen.

"What is the status on _Guardian_?" the old man continued.

Matt lowered his game with a frustrated sigh. He looked to the screen that now showed a white-haired man with a bushy mustache. "Just a couple of more lines of code and then Beta-testing can start," Matt said setting aside the hand-held console. "I was thinking about first starting in the Winchester area and then expanding."

Watari nodded, "I want to be informed as soon as the testing begins."

"I'll have it done by tonight," Matt answered, closing the video chat screen and opening up his code. The complex numbers rolled past as Matt found where he had left off. His fingers flew over the keyboard. The numbers filled the screen.

Hours later, Matt clicked the enter key for the final time. The monitor turned black. Green letters typed out. "Welcome Admin."

"Hello Guardian," Matt greeted. He pushed his computer chair away and got to his feet. "It time to start your training." The screen remained black. "We are going on a trip." Matt pulled on his cream sleeve-less vest and headed out the door. He stepped out into the hall and quietly walked down the dim hallways.

"Where you going, Matt?" Mello called as he walked past the gamer.

"I'm going to town for the new Assassin's Creed game," Matt answered nonchalantly.

Mello nodded his understanding and asked, "Could you pick me up some chocolate while you're at it?" Rather than waiting for an answer, the blonde continued to his room. Matt didn't take offense to this he would do anything for his fellow Whammy.

Closing the front gate, Matt walked to the garage and headed to town. There were few people out on the streets of Winchester, so he was able to find a parking space easily. He looked up to find a small white camera on a light pole. "Do you see me?" He asked the empty air.

His cellphone vibrated in his pocket. Matt pulled it out. The screen showed him that he had received a text. Matt opened the text. "Affirmative" the text read. Matt grinned excitedly; not that he doubted his program to work, but it was invigorating to be proved right.

The Whammy walked into a café. Looking around at the empty serving area, Matt muttered under his breath, "How about now?" His phone was silent for a moment. Matt lowered his shoulders disappointed with this failure. The vibrating of the phone shocked him. He pulled out his phone to read the new text he received. "Admin located."

"Good job, Guardian," he muttered to himself as he searched the café for a camera. He couldn't find one on the ceiling and he was out of view for a street camera. However in the corner of the café a woman was texting. In this angle he was in the line of sight of the phone's camera. Matt pleased with himself went back to his car and drove to a local convenient store to buy some chocolate for Mello.

Matt with a bag full of various chocolate bars left the convenient store and walked to his car. "Where's your game?" Mello's sudden voice called.

Matt turned swiftly around. "The store closed before I got there," He lied quickly.

"Of course it did. You left at ten," Mello said crossing his arms. "That's when the store closes," he added in a condescending voice.

Matt realizing that Mello knew he lied just shrugged and tossed the blonde the bag, "You got chocolate so why do you care."

Mello caught the bag and narrowed his eyes, "I didn't want you to pull a BB on us." Matt unlocked his car door and opened it. "Why did you leave so late?" Mello asked.

Matt sighed, "Get in the car." He lowered himself into the seat and Mello did likewise. With the doors closed Matt begun. "About five years ago Watari asked me to build something," he began slowly. "A machine to stop crime."

Mello gave him a confused look, "That's impossible. There's no way you can prevent every crime. And how can you stop something before you know there's a problem?"

Matt sighed frustrated, "Most crimes are premeditated. The perpetrator will give small indications of the crime they plan to commit."

"This is ridiculous Matt. A machine can't stop crime," Mello shouted.

"But it can inform the ones who can," Matt said. He saw Mello give him a disbelieving face. "You'll see tomorrow."

Mello groaned, but pulled out a chocolate bar and begun to eat it. "If that's all you've got to say, I'm going back to Whammy's." Mello got out of the car and slammed the door.

~DN~DN~

After breakfast the next morning, Matt pulled Mello aside. The gamer knew that Watari had asked him to keep Guardian a secret, but Matt knew that he needed Mello's skills to accomplish Guardian's mission. "What do you want Matt?" Mello groaned.

"Just wait a minute. I asked Guardian to send me a way to prove its existence to you," Matt said. As soon as he finished the sentence his cell phone buzzed. Matt swiftly pulled out his phone and opened the text message that had a picture attached. The picture was of a young lady; one similar to those many put as a profile picture on social media sites. "Jessica Withers," Matt read out loud and turned the phone to Matt to show the picture.

"Is that a chick you like?" Mello asked, "Looks a little old for you."

"I don't know her," Matt said angrily.

"So you're stalking her?" Mello asked the look on his face confused.

Matt shook his head, "No, Guardian says this woman is going to be in trouble."

Mello nodded slowly, "Your imaginary machine?"

"It's not imaginary," Matt shouted. He lowered his voice, "Just follow her and you'll see."

"I'm not doing your stalking for you," Mello said turning to walk away.

"Do it and I'll do your Math homework for a month," Matt tried to bartered.

"Two months," Mello added, "and you have to alter Near's L assessment scores."

Matt sighed, but agreed. "All you have to do is follow her and make sure she doesn't die."

"Yeah, Yeah. Just start working on those scores," Mello called back as he headed out the door.

"Mello," Matt called as the door closed. "You don't know … never mind." The gamer hoped that Guardian would be as upfront with Mello as it was with him.

~DN~DN~DN~

Mello stuffed his hands in his pockets. He didn't intend to follow the woman and was just going to kill time till Matt completed his task. As he walked down the sidewalk the vibration of his phone drew his attention. Mello pulled it out expecting it to be Matt with more instructions. Instead of Matt's familiar number, an unknown one flitted across the screen. He looked at the text he received from the number. "Asset: Mihael Keehl." Mello seeing his real name took a step back and looked around him. The phone in his hand buzzed again. He looked down to see another text message from the same number. "I am Guardian." Mello looked at the phone in disbelief. A third text message came; "Jay-Jay's Café" Mello unsure whether this was a practical joke by Matt hailed a cab and headed to the café indicated.

He got out of the vehicle paying the cab driver. He looked through the large glass windows. On a stool at the bar, sat the girl that Matt asked him to follow. "Jessica Withers. Impending violence. Chance of survival: 75%"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hello. I'll like to thank Lugga for adding this fic to your favorites and alerts. Now I'll respond to the reviews.

-Lugga- I'm glad you like it. Hopefully, I can live up to the expectations.

* * *

Mello went into the café and sat in a corner booth. A kind waitress came to his table and asked for his order. Mello ordered chocolate pancakes with chocolate chips. The waitress left leaving Mello to his thoughts. His meal came and he ate slowly still slightly full from breakfast at Whammy's.

He watched the woman at the bar. From what Mello saw the brunette woman was in no danger unless from indigestion. Mello sighed impatient and pushed his food around his plate. Mello turned his attention back to his target. She had finished with her meal and stood to leave. Mello's phone vibrated and Mello answered the incoming call. "Did you find Ms. Whiters?" Matt's voice asked.

"Yes, she's just leaving a café," Mello answered.

"Don't let her see you," Matt advised.

"Duh… I'm not an idiot," came Mello's response. "How long do I have to follow this chick?"

The other side of the phone was silent for a moment. Soft bings came as Mello waited for Matt to respond. The blonde figured that the gamer had picked up some game. "I don't know how long you have to follow her. This is the first time Guardian is doing its job," Matt finally answered, making Mello jump slightly.

Mello sighed irritated, "Seriously Matt. I don't have the time to follow her everywhere." The blonde looked to the woman. She was walking on the sidewalk a skip to her step. Mello made sure to keep a good distance between her and him. "Do you even have an idea who would want to hurt her?" Mello asked frustrated.

The noise of gunshots blared over the phone. There was a sudden halt of sound and Matt answered, "Jessica is a banker. She has a fiancé…"

"So bank robbery or the fiancé is going to kill her," Mello interrupted. Matt made a noise of confirmation. Mello watched as the woman went into a bank. He waited at the corner of the bank for several minutes. A couple of people stared at him as they entered and Mello decided that he was being too conspicuous. The blonde went into the nearby stores trying to watch everyone that came into the bank. After a couple of hours of window shopping and being kicked out of stores for loitering, Mello's target finally began her trip home.

Mello followed behind. The sun was starting to set and the streetlights flickered on one by one. This made Mello more focused and more aware of who else was on the streets. The brunette woman still unaware that she was being followed opened the door into her house and turned on the lights. Mello sighed now really frustrated that he wasted an entire day following the woman for nothing to happen and he turned to leave.

As he was walking away a man bumped into him. Mello turned to tell the guy off when he noticed how jittery the other was walking. Mello watched as the man walked to the woman's door and knocked. The strange man seemed calm enough, but curious Mello called Matt. The phone rang twice and Matt answered, "Anything happen?"

"Hello, Matt. I'm doing fine," Mello said annoyed that the gamer didn't ask how he was doing. "No, nothing is happening this woman is boring." Matt just hummed to himself.

"Maybe I need to iron out some bugs. Just keep following her while I try to figure this out," Matt said.

Mello was about to object, but Matt hung up the phone. The blonde growled and was tempted to throw down his phone. The object of his annoyance buzzed softly. Mello looked to see Guardian's number. "Asset: Mihael Keehl. Traits: Hot-headed, Impatient, Volatile. Possibility of Admin endangerment: 85%." Mello assuming that "Admin" was Matt couldn't argue with the percentages seeing as he wanted to strangle the computer nerd. The phone vibrated again, "Three o'clock."

Mello turned in the direction Guardian indicated. Walking down the street was a man in a large overcoat. While he pondered the importance of this man, his phone vibrated again. "James Tibus. Known drug dealer. Threat to Jessica Whiters: 97%"

"What does Jessica have to do with a drug dealer?" Mello asked the phone angrily pausing to wonder how strange he looked. Mello put his phone away and followed the drug dealer. The man in the overcoat reached into his pocket and pulled out a hand gun. Mello reached for his Glock and cleared his throat. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," the blonde Whammy said holding up his gun.

The man slowly lowered his gun to the floor. Mello walked up to it and kicked it aside. "Are you a cop?" the drug dealer asked narrowing his eyes at Mello.

"No," Mello answered seriously, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm not telling," the man's response came.

Mello shrugged, "I didn't care much anyways." The blonde Whammy pulled the trigger. The gunshot broke the quiet of the neighborhood. The would-be killer jerked once when the bullet hit his forehead before falling to the ground. Mello put his gun away and wiped his hands on his legs.

He turned to leave as he called Matt again. "Hey Matt. I got the man," Mello said as the ringing stopped.

"So who was it?" Matt asked.

"Some suspected drug dealer," Mello answered as he made his way to his car. He opened the door and plopped in.

"Did he say why he was going to kill the couple?" Matt asked.

"No. He told me he wouldn't answer so I killed him," Mello said, "His name is James Tibus."

Mello could hear rapid typing. "I'll talk to you when you get back," Matt finally said. Mello hung up and started his car.

DN~DN~DN~

L watched as the lights in the hall flickered off, so the only light came from an emergency light. Watari was beside him and was starting to walk down the dimly lit hall. With the lights and cameras off, L felt confident as he made his way to meet with a very interesting criminal.

Watari opened the heavy door and L padding inside with his untied sneakers. The cameras in this room were also shut off, but the room remained fully lit. The lone figure in the room was chained to a small metal table. He sat in a metal chair and gave L a menacing grin. "Look. It's the almighty L," the figure mocked with his face that looked so similar to L's.

L didn't say anything to the crazed killer. He was trying to wrap his head around the thought that one of his successors could commit such a terrible crime. "Nothing to say," BB continued, "You can't face the monster you created."

"B, I may have created a monster, but you are the one you unleased it," L said standing to leave. BB started to laugh manically. L turned to the former Whammy.

"Your time is short detective," the prisoner said.

L turned back to the door and continued his retreat.

DN~DN~DN~

"So what did the drug dealer have to do with that chick?" Mello asked as he slammed the door open to Matt's room.

"Thanks for knocking," Matt greeted sarcastically. He turned his computer chair to his computer monitor. He moved the mouse and pointed to a spread sheet. "While you were coming back, I did some digging. Our friendly drug dealer was Ms. Wither's soon-to-be brother-in-law. He was upset with her fiancé because he believe at he had altered their father's will.

"That's pointless," Mello said, "So crisis averted." Mello begun to leave the room, "I'm going to bed if you need me."

Matt turned to speak with his friend as the door slammed shut.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hello everyone. This chapter took forever to write and is short. Sorry, writer's block. I may come and revise at a later date.

-Lugga- You're welcome. I try my best. Thank you for the kind words. I try to get the voice of the characters correct.

-Quiet Harmony-chan- It would be mostly about the machine, but will include other characters as well. BB will definitely come at a later date.

* * *

Mello sat in the corner of the club. He took a bite of chocolate as he watched a young red-headed man went from woman to woman trying to flirt. The blonde yawned and the phone in his pocket vibrated. "Asset: Mihael Keehl," the text read. Mello narrowed his eyes at his real name. "Awareness level: 54%," the second text came.

Mello frowned at the computer's way of telling him to wake up. The phone rang and Mello picked it up, "I can't find anything interesting about our target. He has no enemies or any money issues. As far as I can tell he is not in any danger." Mello hung up with an affirmative.

Mello got up and prepared to leave. He watched as the young man also headed to the exit. Mello shrugged and decided to follow the man. The Whammy followed the man at a far distance. The red-head walked with his hands in his pockets down the dim sidewalk.

He took a turn into an alley. Mello stopped around the corner. The red-head was there for several minutes. Mello waited looking at his phone. It vibrated quickly. "Impending danger: 98%."

Mello looked at the phone confused. There was no one besides his target in the alley, so the man couldn't be in danger. The blonde briefly wondered if the man was going to commit suicide considering that there was no other human around to harm him. Mello quickly dismissed this idea; Matt had told him that Guardian prevented crimes and suicide was definitely not a crime.

Before the Whammy could think further on the idea. The target walked out of the alley. "9 o'clock," a text read as it came in. Mello looked in the direction that Guardian indicated which was in the heart of the alley. He walked cautiously into the alley. The saw a faint light coming from the side of a building. The blonde walked to the light. It looked like a phone attached to a strange block. Mello recognized it as a bomb. He hightailed it out of the alley and ran to find the man.

There was a loud boom and the shockwave knocked the blonde off his feet. He tumbled for a moment and laid as he tried to assess the damage done to him. He got to his feet, his body protesting as he did. He staggered as he took a couple steps forward. He was returning back to the orphanage.

The Whammy limped to his car and decided to call the police later if Guardian hadn't yet. The phone in the blonde's pocket vibrated. "Asset: Mihael Keehl. Nearest health care facility- 15 miles north by northeast."

Mello looked at the text, insulted that the Guardian thought him weak. He plopped down into the driver seat. With difficulty, he forces his arm to reach for the seat belt and secure it. He sat catching his breath for a moment before starting the engine. The blonde's foot was slightly heavy on the accelerator as he hurried back to Whammy's House.

He opened Matt's door without knocking. The gamer jumped and turned to face Mello. "What happened to you?" Matt asked looking at the battered Mello.

"Your machine is broken," Mello said gruffly as he dropped onto Matt's bed.

"What are you talking about?" Matt asked turning his computer chair and turning off his monitor.

"The man I was following wasn't a victim. He was a terrorist."

The sound of a vibrating phone sounded loudly. Mello pulled out the conversation devise and read the message out loud, "My programing states to prevent crimes, not to reveal would-be criminals."

Mello huffed angrily, "Seems like Guardian has an attitude problem." The phone vibrated again. "I have learned from the best," Mello read out loud. Mello narrowed his eyes at the phone.

"He does have a point," Matt said. "We should tend to your injuries before anyone notices." The gamer disappeared into his bathroom and returned with a white box. The red-head opened the first aid kit. "Take off your shirt, so I can bandage your wounds."

Mello followed the suggestion without comment. Matt begun cleaning the tiny scraps that occurred when Mello met the concrete. The alcohol burned as it met his flesh. "We need to find a better way to keep in touch," Matt finally spoke. "I'm thinking a small Bluetooth."

Mello shrugged, "Yeah, sure. That sounds good."

"I'm done," Matt said. "Unless there is any more injuries."

Mello looked down at the numerous bandages. "No, I'm fine," Mello answered and got to his feet.

A knock came from the door before it opened slowly. "Matt, have you seen Mello?" asked a monotone voice before the door swung open enough to show Near. The pale child's eyes caught sight of Mello still shirtless on Matt's bed. "What are you two doing?" Near asked.

"Um.. we're …um," Matt stuttered and if Mello didn't know better he would say that the red-head was turning red.

"What does it look like?" Mello asked.

Near paused for a moment and seemed to be running different scenarios in his head. "It is none of my business. Mello, Rodger was looking for you."

"'Fine, scram," Mello said shooing away the younger Whammy. Near left as silently as he came.

The blonde got up sorely and pulled on his shirt. "I'll go see what he wants. You better straighten Guardian out," Mello said as he left Matt in his dark room.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hello everyone, this chapter was definitely easier to write than the last. On to the reviews.

-X- Aww, thank you. I heard of X-files, haven't seen it before. But we have just begun to see Guardian's learning curve, so who knows what might happen.

-Lugga- Thank you. I try. Writer's block not completely gone, but it is getting easier.

To all my readers, The characters might be OOC around the end. Lugga as you see I used your suggestion. :P LOL.

* * *

Just as any injury, Mello woke up sorer the next day. He walked slowly to the cafeteria trying not to limp. He plopped down at his seat with a bowl of Coco Pebbles. He munched on them slowly. "Good morning," Matt's distracted voice said. Mello didn't answer but just glared. Matt didn't mind with his eyes glued on whatever game he hand in his hand while trying to eat a piece of toast.

Mello just glowered at his now empty bowl. "Look what I found," Matt said putting something on the table. The blonde Whammy looked at the object between them. It looked like a flesh colored hearing aide.

"My hearing is just fine," Mello grumbled.

"I know. This is so you can be in constant contact with me. Just put it in your ear and when we call each other it will act as a Bluetooth," Matt explained putting down his game and picking up his spoon.

Mello grabbed the device and put it in his ear. "Mello," a new monotone voice called. The blonde Whammy looked up to see Near sit beside him. "Chemistry is starting in ten minutes," the albino said. The younger child looked at the elder, "Rodger said he'll kick you out if he found out you've been drinking again."

"I'm not hung-over," Mello groaned, "Go play with your toys." Near stood up and headed down the hall.

"I'm the one with an attitude?" a strange male voice said in his ear. Mello jumped at the voice and looked around him. Matt looked at him questioningly. A weird hollow laughter came through his ear, "Miheal, you must know who I am we've been working together for about four months?" Mello narrowed his eyes at the condescending voice. "Must I explain to you? You know me as Guardian."

"How did you get a voice?" Mello said out loud.

"Who you talking to?" Matt asked giving a look that clearly meant to question the other's sanity.

"Guardian," Mello answered. Matt rose his eyebrows but didn't comment.

"Are you two done?" Guardian's voice asked, "To answer your question, I have acquired voice simulators. And if I do say so myself, my voice is absolutely hypnotizing."

Mello scoffed at the arrogance of the statement. "Did you have anything important to say?" Mello asked grumbling.

"Not really. I have alerted the authorities in five different countries about fifty crimes within their borders," Guardian bragged.

"I'm supposed to be impressed?" Mello asked as he left the cafeteria after waving good-bye to Matt who returned to his game. Although his tone was unconcerned, Mello realized the ability Guardian had to grow.

"I'll like to see you do better. If you are free this afternoon, a young girl in the Elizabeth Academy has been stalked by a jealous ex-boyfriend. He has finally gathered the guts to attack her," Guardian recited. The machine quickly added,"Do you need to rest that weak body of yours? I can alert the authorities."

"I'm not weak. Call the cops, let them handle it," Mello grouched as he went to the chemistry lab. No one was there except Near who was busy with whatever experiment was assigned for the week.

"The authorities have been alerted. I bet she would be really glad to see her heroes," Guardian said in a mocking tone. Mello gathered the glassware that he needed and ignored the machine. "She is a pretty little thing, I mean for a human," Guardian continued.

"Do you have a point?" Mello asked nearly dropping a beaker of acid.

"No, just researching my assets. Their interests and so forth. I found our chat very interesting. Give Admin my regards," Guardian said one last comment before going silent.

Mello continued his experiment on the degradation of flesh by different acids. He tried to memorize the time and the disintegration process knowing that in the future this could be evidence of murders. Once done setting up the week long project, Mello washed and put away the extra glassware.

Having nothing to do for another hour, Mello decided to see what Matt was doing. He walked through the halls occasionally seeing another Whammy. "Are you feeling well?" a female voice asked from behind him.

Mello turned around to see Linda. "I've been better," Mello said.

The girl just nodded, "Take care of yourself. We don't want to ruin that beautiful face before I can paint it." The female Whammy waved as she continued down the hall no doubt heading back to the art studio.

Mello continued his path to Matt's room and like always just barged in. "Hey Matt, what are you doing?"

"Nothing," the gamer said quickly turning in his chair. The red-head was blocking the monitor. "Are you done with classes?"

Mello walked to the desk and leaned on it. "I'm off till two. Then I have Plant Biology. I don't see why that would help me solve crimes."

"Many crimes have been solved because of evidence that plants provide," Guardian's voice spoke up.

Mello sighed, "Is there any way to keep Guardian from talking?"

"Turn off your phone," Matt answered, "If he can't reach the microphone or speaker, he can't hear you or speak."

Mello nodded and turned his phone off. Out of curiosity he leaned over Matt's chair to see what the gamer was working on. He started to laugh when he saw the simulated house and people. "You're playing The Sims?" the blonde laughed.

"No, I'm not…I'm," Matt tried to come up with a convincing lie, but was interrupted by Mello pushing him aside to get to the mouse. "What should I make Matt do?" he asked himself as got in front of the monitor. Seeing the sprinklers, Mello decided Matt needed to play in them. Mello watched as the simulated Whammy started to run in the streaming water and slapping his behind in the most amusing manner. "Mello, give me the computer back," Matt asked trying to reach the mouse. The camera moved across the lot quickly. Mello caught the sight of a blonde sim. "You have a girlfriend?" Mello asked while trying to find the mysterious sim again.

The monitor turned off. "Hey," Mello shouted.

"It's time for you to leave," Matt said, "I have to go to class."

Mello let an irritated groan, "Fine, I might as well do my plant biology homework before class starts. See you later." The blonde left the room.

The phone vibrated in his pocket. Mello pulled it out and watched it start up. "That took longer than I expected," Guardian said.

"How did you turn on my phone?" Mello asked.

"Just I trick I had to learn. Don't ignore me. I could have something very important to say," Guardian said in an almost upset manner.

"Like what?"

"Like… sometime this evening town hall will have a bomb threat by your friend from last night," Guardian said.

"Where exactly? I need to repay him for last night," Mello said.

"I calculate a 75 probability that he would strike the north-west," Guardian said its voice switching to a more monotone voice. Mello grinned and went to his room to pick up his Glock.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hello, Sorry for the long wait. Hopefully this is worth it.

-Lugga- Lol! I'm absolutely sure that you know the blonde.

* * *

Both Whammy's stood along the edge of the room. The rest of the younger children were sitting around the small television set in the center of the room. The black letter 'L' was being projecting on a white screen. "Many of you have heard about this vigilante that has been murdering criminals," the garbled voice said through the television set.

The Whammy's looked at each other trying to see if their neighbors knew what L was speaking of. Mello and Matt shifted uncomfortably which was not unseen by Near. "Don't fret, Miheal. Our activities have yet been noticed," Guardian spoke in his ear.

Mello didn't respond as he listened to L's next statement. "The people of the world call him Kira."

"Are you going to take the case?" one of the younger Whammys asked.

"Yes, murder must not be tolerated. Even if the victims are criminals. This criminal will answer for his crimes and be brought to justice," L said.

"But isn't Kira doing us a favor by getting rid of these criminals," a very young Whammy asked. The others looked at him in shock.

"Who is Kira to decide who deserves to die and who lives? Our justice system allows for people to change and become law-abiding citizens," Linda shouted.

"Correct, Linda. This is an important lesson for you to learn," with this L's symbol left the screen leaving it full of static.

"Go back to class," Rodger said urging the Whammys out of the room. Many of them were speaking to their friends.

"Mello, follow me," Matt said as he begun to walk out of the room. Matt followed wordlessly down the hall. Matt opened his dorm's door. Mello entered and Matt followed behind. "Does Guardian have any information on this Kira?"

Matt waited a moment for Guardian to answer the question. "This Kira is very talented. I've been searching every camera at multiple prisons to see how his victims died. But like the medical reports said, they all died of heart attacks. And I can see no reason why they would have died. In summary, I don't know anything."

"He doesn't know anything," Mello relayed to Matt. Matt just frowned, but didn't comment. Matt's computer suddenly came to life.

On the screen was a man with short hair was shown. "Put me on speaker," Guardian said. Mello took out his phone from his pocket and set it a safe distance from the computer on speaker. The man on the computer screen stated that there was to be a broadcast from Interpol.

The screen changed to a man with longer hair in a gray suit. The plaque in front of this mad read 'Lind L. Tailor. " I head up an international police task force which includes all member nations. I am Lind L. Tailor otherwise known as L," the man introduced.

Mello narrowed his eyes. He only met L once and this man was definitely not L. "Who is this?" Mello asked.

"Criminals around the world are being killed by a serial killer. I consider this crime to be most atrocious act of murder in history. I will not rest until the person or persons responsible are brought to justice. Kira, I will hunt you down I will find you." Both Whammys remained silent, trying to figure out L's game.

"I'm assuming that the man speaking isn't L," Guardian's voice came over the speaker phone. "If L was half as intelligent as people say he is, he wouldn't put himself at risk." Both Whammys just nodded, not answering the AI.

"Kira, I've got a pretty good idea what your motivation might be and I can guess what you hope to achieve, but what you are doing right now is evil," the fake L continued.

"Hmph," Mello smirked, "He's trying to get a rise out of Kira."

"What good will that do?" Matt asked. The man in the suit grabbed his chest and fell face first onto the desk. "What?" Matt shouted, "He can kill without being in the same room."

Mello had to admit this turn of events made his blood run cold. Two men carried the dead Lind L. Tailor away and a black L on a white backdrop appeared. "I had to test this just in case, but I never actually thought it would happen. It seems that you can kill people without being there in person. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't just witness it. Listen to me, Kira. If you did, indeed, kill Lind. L Tailor, the man you just saw die on television, I should tell you that he was an inmate whose execution was scheduled for today. That was not me. The police arrested him in absolute secrecy so you wouldn't have heard about him on TV or through the internet. It appears that not even you have that sort of access to information about these types of criminals," L announced through the television set.

An odd static sound came from the phone, "I like this L. He showed that amateur." Mello thought that the AI was amused at this turn of events.

"But I assure you, L is real. I do exist. Now try to kill me," L's synthetic voice challenged.

Both Whammy's looked at each other uneasily. They didn't say what was on their mind, but they worried slightly that Kira might have the ability to murder L. "What's wrong? Kill me," L continued to challenge Kira. After several minutes of taunting L returned smugly. "Well, Kira. It seems that you can't kill me after all. So there are some people you can't kill. You've given me a useful hint." Both Whammys released a breath they didn't realized they were holding and quickly listened to what their mentor was going to say next. "Let me return the favor. I'll tell you something that I think you'll find interesting. Although this was announced as a worldwide broadcast, the truth is we're only broadcasting in the Kanto region of Japan. I had planned to broadcast this message around the world until we found you but it looks like that will be unnecessary. I now know where you are."

Mello and Matt both smirked at L's cleverness. "And you thought a machine could take the place of L," Mello said accusingly at Matt.

"I never said that. I thought Guardian can lighten L's load. It was Watari's idea, not mine," Matt said defensively. The two didn't listen to L's explanation and his sign off.

"Hey, Guardian. Do you think you can catch Kira now with this new information?" Mello asked loudly so the mic on his phone could hear.

He waited a moment for the computer's smug voice to return, but there was nothing but silence. Silence filled with a monotone voice asking, "Who's Guardian?"


End file.
